When it comes to baby sitting, I've got the answer - take the children to see Blyth play away, it couldn't be easier.
The Millennium Bank Holiday Monday saw the Junior branch of the Coventry Spartans, Ella aged 3 1/2 and Aran aged 11 months, join the other Coventry Spartans on the trip north to see Blyth play at Guiseley.
The early 1.00 p.m. kickoff meant an even earlier start than normal - the children were awake at 7.00 am. as usual, so whilst my wife, Caroline, stayed in bed recovering from Chicken Pox, I got the kids their breakfast. This gave me time to get their pushchairs, coats, hats, gloves, a flask of hot water, milk for Aran, juice for Ella, sweets, crisps, spare clothes for Aran in case of an accident!. Nappies, wipes, change mat and a whole heap of other things ready. I was ready for every eventuality. Those of you with children will appreciate this. With the supplies we were carrying, I think we could have survived a nuclear attack!!!!.
Once breakfast had been eaten in Ella's case and thrown on the floor in Aran's case, it was time to get them both dressed in the warmest clothes they had and wait for the arrival of Spartans Martin (As Ella calls him). He duly arrived at 11.30 a.m. and we were off.
A short trip down the M69 took us to the M1, where we headed north to Leeds. After about 10 minutes, Aran fell asleep and Ella was tucking into her first packet of Cadburys buttons. We were flying up the motorway and soon Ella fell asleep, leaving me and Martin to discuss Blyth's position at the wrong end of the table. Before long we were on the outskirts of Leeds and with the help of a book, my brother had given me for Christmas listing all the non-league grounds and how to get to them we headed to Nethermoor.
The last phase of the journey via Leeds ring road was incredibly slow and things began to get a little fraught when Aran woke up, wondering where the hell on earth he was. Just in time, we reached the ground with 15 minutes to spare before kick-off. We parked the car pretty close to the ground, got out the 2 pushchairs, put Ella's coat, hat and gloves on and whilst Ella was sitting nicely in her pushchair, I put Aran in the boot of the car so that I could get his all-in-one "snow suit" on and we were off.
At the turnstile we hit the first problem, the pushchairs wouldn't fit through, so we had to enter the ground through a side entrance. Once inside, Martin headed off to get something to eat and I got Aran some food - cold apple and blackberry fruit mush, his favourite!!!.
Whilst feeding him, I heated up a bottle of milk using the hot water from the flask and Ella was happy to eat a packet of crisps and see what was going on.
As Martin returned with a tray of pie and peas, the match kicked off. Aran was sitting in his pushchair quite happily and Ella was watching the match from my shoulders. The game was lively with Spartans taking the lead on 14 minutes when Edgy rounded the keeper and slotted the ball into the back of the net. Guiseley equalised about 15 minutes later with a free header in the 6 yard box, giving Terry Burke no chance. Five minutes later Guiseley took the lead to leave it 2-1 at the halftime break.
Once the players had left the pitch Martin went to get some hot drinks and more sweets for Ella, whilst I gave her some
juice and crisps, Aran some of his fruit mush and heated up some more milk. At this point Ella said, "can we go now?" - I explained that the match hadn't finished and bribed her with another packet of Hula Hoops.
Luckily, the second half started quite quickly and before long Ella was absorbed in the game. With Ella on my shoulders we took up a pitch-side position, whilst martin held Aran a little further back on the terrace with the Blyth faithful. The second half was all Blyth and they should have equalised when a goal mouth scramble saw the ball kicked off the line twice. It was one of those days, it wasn't to be and the game finished in a disappointing 2-1 defeat.
The Blyth players left the pitch to applause from the travelling fans, including Ella who was shouting "Spartans". It was then time to head back to the car, warm up and drive the 130 miles home. We eventually arrived home at 5.30 p.m., 6 hours after leaving.
Once Ella had told her Mum all about the match and said she wanted to take her and Grandma (who lives in Blyth) to a match, it was time for her to have tea and eat some decent food. At her request it was sausage and beans followed by ice cream. How could I refuse, she had been so good it was unbelievable.
So, what is the morale of this story? -
well it's not that hard following Blyth at home or away - if I can travel 260 miles with 2 children under the age of 4 to see Blyth play,
I'm sure some of you could get on the Supporters' coach or go to Croft Park and get behind the team.

Let's face it they need our support not our barracking.